Jiang Nan Bellevue — Restaurant in Bellevue

I wouldn’t say I’m a Chinese food expert but I’ve had good Chinese food before. The food tasted fine. Nothing mind blowing but nothing felt overcooked or lacking in flavor so I’m not dunking on the flavor.

Price wise I wouldn’t go out of my way to come back here if you’re not from the area. I wouldn’t say skip this place and drive all the way to Vancouver but I wouldn’t come here for an anniversary or something special.

You get a tablet to order from and for most people it’s not that difficult to use. It does take up some table space though while not that annoying it would be nice if they set up a stand or some basket off to the side to keep it out of the way.

Personally I have no major problems with the tablet and I don’t know if this restaurant only cares for a younger crowd but it’s a bit of work to scroll through everything. If you had physical menus you could attract more of the older crowd and probably get more profit out of them. A big physical menu with a few listed high price options would be more successful because it’s right there and you would only turn a page or two.

The menu also isn’t up to date. There were food and drink items unavailable from the menu. You could still add some items to the cart but it was only after submitting an order you were told if it was available or not.

I don’t think it was that big of a deal for us but we were there somewhat early on a weekend. I’d be a bit more forgiving if menu items weren’t available closer to dinner time but how do you not have things restocked before the start of a weekend? This restaurant is new but it’s already been open for some time so I’m deducting a star just for that reason.

Staff and service were generally okay. I didn’t feel like I was getting hassled or roughed up at some backwater Denny’s but we felt mixed vibes depending on who came to our table.

We didn’t mind the randomness of who came to our table but we’re used to having the same person serving us even at other Chinese restaurants. Here it just seemed like whoever was available showed up when you pressed the button on the table to call someone.

Not that big of a deal for us personally but it didn’t feel as personable like you’d normally feel at a standard restaurant. People have hyped this restaurant but you’d expect a little bit more, right?

I wasn’t sure if this place was understaffed or not. It didn’t take that long for someone to come when you called for service but we weren’t checked on as often as we expected. There always seemed to be staff walking around but we never were asked to have our water refilled.

I guess you’re supposed to call for water every time you need it? I’ve eaten at similar price point restaurants and we’ve been checked on for more water. Maybe you’re not supposed to drink water here?

When we cleared some of our plates, no one bothered to come by and take them away. More food was brought out which was great but it was also placed awkwardly some distance away from us and it’s not like our empty plates were hard to reach or too heavy to take away. The server didn’t even have another table’s food with them so they could’ve used one of their free hands to clear the table?

Some of our small sides weren’t included with our main dishes which was interesting because we were even asked while ordering the main dishes if we wanted those sides or not.

Now that I think about it, for the price point the rice didn’t blow me away. I feel like I’ve had better rice I’ve bought from the store and cooked myself at home in a rice cooker. I’m not even a rice snob but it just felt like an after thought considering how fancy this place is supposed to be?

I guess this place was nice to try once but I think if you didn’t bother with the expensive tablets and USB charged table lights, you could lower the price point and train staff better.

I wouldn’t say I’d never come back here and hope things can improve. The owners should shell out some of the profits toward improving the service and food and I could see myself coming back and...

I really hate to write a one-star review, but my experience at Jiang Nan Bellevue was so disappointing that it truly deserves it.

The evening started off fine — our server took our order, and the mango yakult and oolong tea were actually quite good. The appetizers came out next, and while they tasted fine, a few items were missing. Then things started to go downhill fast.

We ordered five duck dishes, but only four plates came out initially. The fifth didn’t arrive until the very end of the meal. We were also missing two soups for half the dinner, and part of the order was incorrect. When we tried to clarify things, the staff seemed confused and indifferent. The only person who showed any warmth was the hostess, who was very nice, but still lacked proper help or training for her role.

What really shocked me was how poorly managed the entire restaurant seemed. The location inside the Bellevue Bravern, which is supposed to be a high-end mall, sets certain expectations — and this restaurant didn’t meet any of them. The staff looked unprofessional, dressed in sneakers and casual clothes, and there was no sense of organization or training. It honestly felt like the place was run by unsupervised high schoolers with no management oversight.

The service was some of the worst I’ve seen, especially for a restaurant trying to position itself as fine dining. Even an Olive Garden would’ve provided better service and attention.

When we asked our server how large the Seattle Restaurant Week duck dish would be, he said it was supposed to be one-quarter of a duck. What we actually received was a tiny plate with just a few slices — definitely not close to that portion. After looking over the full menu, we realized even their whole duck dish was small compared to other fine dining spots that serve Peking Duck. When we politely brought up the issue (along with the other service problems), our server seemed overwhelmed and just brushed it off.

A few dishes, like the appetizers and soups, were enjoyable — but that’s about the only positive thing I can say.

Overall, this restaurant feels like a case of poor management, untrained staff, and a lack of attention to detail, which completely ruins what could’ve been a nice dining experience. Despite the Michelin recommendation at their New York location, don’t be fooled — this Bellevue branch is nowhere near that level. If things don’t change fast, I honestly don’t see this restaurant lasting more...

I went there on a Thursday evening with my husband. We had spring rolls, vegetarian Ma Po tofu, and cumin lamb. The service was attentive, and the restaurant was well staffed. But you order on an iPad, which is not good. One of us browsed the iPad while the other was killing time or being bored. And we still needed to talk to a server to make modifications to our order, so I'm not sure why we couldn't each have a paper menu, have an easier time talking to each other about the food, and still have to talk to a server. Really detracted from the experience.

The restaurant was clean, but the decor was kind of strange. A bunch of crystal chandeliers and the walls kitted out to look like a library - I wasn't really sure what they were aiming for, but it seemed really discordant. And the bar in the restaurant has a television playing sports - some people might like it, I think it brings down the feel of the restaurant.

As for the food, the vegetarian Ma Po tofu was really good - suitably flavorful and spicy. And a nice dose of numbing peppercorns. Easily the best thing at the restaurant - strongly recommend.

The spring rolls were underwhelming. One order is two rolls, pre-cut, and served cut side down on a plate. I don't know whether this may have contributed to some steaming or something, but the roll filling had a gummy texture, and the dipping sauce wasn't my cup of tea. That last one could be individual taste, but the texture of the rolls was not.

And the cumin lamb was served on a sizzling platter, which they also ignited tableside. Unfortunately, if you order the dish extra spicy, this means that you basically aerosolize steaming capsaicin - my husband and I were coughing, as was the waiter, as were some people at a nearby table. This also means that you have to wait a couple of minutes to eat the food, while the thinly sliced lamb continues to cook on the scorching hot platter, leading to overcooked meat. I get that it looks great, presentation-wise, but in practice, we'd rather have the meat tender and cooked properly.

As I said, the servers were attentive - we were asked repeatedly whether we needed anything, and our water glasses were always full. But on balance, I don't think I'd want to return - it didn't have the nice dinner date feel that I was looking for at...